Argus Lowers First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) to Neutral

First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) was downgraded by stock analysts at Argus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports.

FRC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James cut shares of First Republic Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of First Republic Bank from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Maxim Group lowered their price target on shares of First Republic Bank from $200.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of First Republic Bank from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of First Republic Bank in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Republic Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.90.

First Republic Bank Stock Down 32.8 %

Shares of NYSE:FRC opened at $23.03 on Friday. First Republic Bank has a 1-year low of $17.53 and a 1-year high of $174.21. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.83.

First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 13th. The bank reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. First Republic Bank had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that First Republic Bank will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Republic Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cottage Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Republic Bank by 9,479.6% in the fourth quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,045,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 2,024,267 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Republic Bank by 110,317.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,920,158 shares of the bank’s stock worth $234,048,000 after buying an additional 1,918,419 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Republic Bank in the fourth quarter worth about $218,778,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Republic Bank by 236.2% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,127,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $259,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,508 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. increased its holdings in First Republic Bank by 412.3% during the 4th quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 1,071,532 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $130,609,000 after purchasing an additional 862,373 shares during the period. 95.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First Republic Bank

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First Republic Bank engages in the provision of private banking, business banking, real estate lending, and wealth management, including trust and custody services. It operates through the Commercial Banking and Wealth Management segments. The Commercial Banking segment represents most of the operations, including real estate secured lending, retail deposit gathering, private banking activities, mortgage sales and servicing, and managing capital, liquidity, and interest rate risk.